EMEA Morning Briefing : Stocks to Steady But -2-

Cryptocurrency-Based Crime Hit a Record $14 Billion in 2021

The dollar amount collected through cryptocurrency-based crime hit a record high in 2021, as the volume of cryptocurrency transactions overall grew into tens of trillions of dollars, according to blockchain data platform Chainalysis Inc.

However, the volume of illicit activities remains a small share of the total cryptocurrency transactions volume, according to a preview of Chainalysis's 2022 Crypto Crime Report to be published in February.

Kazakhstan Unrest Pushes Up Uranium and Oil Prices

Instability in Kazakhstan, the world's biggest uranium producer, threatens to curb output and boost prices at the same time supplies of the nuclear fuel are becoming tighter.

Dozens of people died Thursday when authorities moved against protesters after several days of unrest and the arrival of a Russia-led military alliance to quell the disorder.

Mortgage Rates Hit Highest Levels Since Spring 2020

U.S. mortgage rates this week rose to their highest levels since May 2020, driving up the costs associated with home buying at a time when home-sales prices are already near record highs.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan was 3.22%, up from 3.11% last week, according to mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac. A year ago, mortgage rates stood at 2.65%.

France Fines Google, Facebook for Privacy Violations

A French regulator fined Alphabet Inc.'s Google $169 million and Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook $67 million, saying the companies made it too difficult for users to reject cookies, the identifiers used to track their data.

Facebook and Google required several steps to reject cookies used to track their data on YouTube, Facebook and Google, leading users to accept the technology because doing so required just one click, said France's data-protection regulator, the CNIL. The regulator gave the companies three months to create a solution for rejecting cookies that is as simple as the button to accept them.

U.K. Retail Footfall Remained Below Pre-Covid Levels in December

U.K. retail stores footfall in December remained below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels as increased Omicron variant cases and new work-from-home advice deterred in-store shoppers, according to the latest report by the British Retail Consortium.

Footfall in U.K. stores fell 18.6% compared with 2019 in the period from Nov. 28 to Jan. 1, and declined 2.9% when compared with October 2021.

Kazakhstan Unrest and Russia's Intervention Transform Ties With Moscow

Ever since becoming Kazakhstan's first president in 1990, Nursultan Nazarbayev steered the country along two tracks.

At home, he oversaw moves to strengthen the Kazakh identity and weaken Russia's historic influence. In foreign and defense policy, however, he hewed close to the Kremlin, assuring Russia that Kazakhstan would always remain a strategic ally.

Omicron Prompts Italy to Mandate Vaccines for Older People; U.S. Surge Continues

Italy made vaccination mandatory for older people, adopting some of the toughest vaccine requirements in the West in a bid to curb Covid-19 and Omicron's spread, as figures from New York suggested the new variant produces fewer cases of severe disease.

The U.S. registered 623,308 cases Wednesday, down from record levels seen at the start of the week when more than one million cases were recorded following the holiday backlog. The seven-day average of daily case reports in the country continued to climb, however, reaching 574,508 on Wednesday, up from 303,476 the previous week, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

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Expected Major Events for Friday

00:01/UK: Dec BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor

06:45/SWI: Dec Unemployment

07:00/NOR: Nov Credit Indicator C2

07:00/ROM: Nov Retail trade

07:00/DEN: Nov Unemployment

07:00/NOR: Nov Industrial Production Index

07:00/FIN: Nov Foreign trade

07:00/GER: Nov Industrial Production Index

07:00/GER: Nov Foreign Trade

07:00/UK: Dec Halifax House Price Index

07:00/UK: 4Q Halifax House Price Index: UK Regional Breakdown quarterly release

07:30/SWI: Nov Retail Sales

07:45/FRA: Nov Household consumption expenditure in manufactured goods

07:45/FRA: Nov Foreign trade

07:45/FRA: Nov Balance of Payments

07:45/FRA: Nov Industrial production index

08:00/CZE: Nov External trade

08:00/HUN: Nov Retail Sales

08:00/SVK: Nov Internal trade, including Wholesale & Retail

08:00/HUN: Nov Preliminary Industrial Production

08:00/AUT: Oct Foreign Trade

08:00/SVK: Nov Foreign trade

08:00/SWI: Dec SNB foreign currency reserves

08:00/CZE: Nov Industry, Construction

09:00/GER: Dec Baden-Wuerttemberg CPI

09:00/GER: Dec Bavaria CPI

09:00/ITA: 3Q General Govt Quarterly Accounts

09:00/ICE: Dec External trade, preliminary figures

09:30/UK: Dec CIPS / Markit Construction PMI

10:00/EU: Dec Flash Estimate euro area inflation

10:00/EU: Nov Retail trade

10:00/EU: Dec Business & Consumer Surveys - Business Climate Indicator & Economic Sentiment Indicator

10:00/GRE: Nov External Trade (provisional data)

10:00/CRO: Nov Foreign Trade

11:00/IRL: Nov Retail Sales Index

All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-07-22 0044ET